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by kilojulietsierra



Category: Bright (2017)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Estranged, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family Angst, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Loss, Interspecies Relationship(s), Orc Culture, Past Relationship(s), Romance, coming home, orc family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-09 10:55:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18636730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kilojulietsierra/pseuds/kilojulietsierra
Summary: Who is Mikey's Mom? How did Dorghu get his scars? Do orcs wear wedding rings? Hint: she's been a nurse in Santa Barbara since the attack but she could never convince herself to file for divorce and Dorghu could never really convince himself to take off the ring. This isn't the circumstances either of them imagined when they thought about rekindling things but their relationship had never been normal.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

She waited for her AC to kick on and for her phone to come back to life. It had died a couple hours ago and she had been so busy she hadn’t bothered to plug it in at the nurses station. When the cab of her car began to cool her phone chirped back to life, slowly. It was an old phone. One at a time her notifications started to roll in, none of which merited much interest until the very last which was a voicemail notification from her son.

Abby smiled and bypassed the voicemail choosing to just call him back.

His phone rang a few times before he picked up. “Hey, Mom, everything’s fine, I promise!”

It took her a moment to respond, “Everything is fine? What does that mean exactly?”

“I’m home now, and Dad and I talked and nothing bad happened, really, I mean technically…”

“Mikey. Explain, now.” Abby had been tired, exhausted even and ready to collapse into bed, but now she was wide awake and ready for the two hour drive to Los Angeles.

~~~~~

Dorghu needed a drink and a cigarette and a good night's sleep. He helped himself to two of the three before he drug his feet into the living room to sit for a minute. Before he could sit something caught his attention. He caught the scent of something salty with a hint of pineapple under the stench of exhaustion that nearly matched his own. His first instinct had been to reach for his gun or knife but that would not protect him from the attack to come.

“What are you doing Abby?” He reached up with the hand that loosely held his beer and flipped on the living room light.

“Mikey called.” Her eyes were tired and her tone was hollow, but there was no threat in them. Not yet at least.

The orc stared at her intently, taking in what had and hadn’t changed in the last eight years. She kept her longer, still a mess of wavey brown, her skin still suntanned and youthful. “You look tired”

She resituated herself in the chair against the back wall, “So do you.”

He took a long pull, half the bottles worth, of his beer before he set it down and put his cigarettes back in his pocket. “So, what did he tell you.”

“More than I wanted to know… but also not enough.” She rubbed at her face and raked her fingers through her hair. The two of them sat in a surprisingly comfortable silence. When Abby broke it her voice was gentle, “I didn’t know he was ready to… you know.”

Dorghu sighed and sat himself down on the nearest end of the couch. “You’d be surprised.”

There was a flash in her eyes and her posture stiffened.

“Abby don’t pick a fight, not tonight. Did you talk to Mikey?”

“No, I just got here a minute ago. I needed to talk to your first.”

Dorghu nodded. “You still drink your coffee with too much cream and sugar?” He took her half-hearted scowl and twitch of a smirk as a yes. That didn’t mean he relaxed, she was still on edge and rightly so, but he couldn’t help but take a deep breath and revel for a moment in the fruit and sea salt scent of his estranged wife.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Dorghu set her cup of coffee on the table just as Abby entered the kitchen. “Can I get another beer before the yelling starts?” He didn’t wait for the response and helped himself to his fridge anyway.

Abby slid into the seat in front of the hot coffee and didn’t bother to answer his rhetorical question. “Is he really okay?”

The bottle hissed as he twisted the cap off, “Yeah, he’s tougher than I thought. Smarter and braver too.”

She sipped her coffee, careful of the hot liquid, and Dorghu caught the faint flicker of appreciation. Apparently he still remembered how to make her perfect cup of coffee. “You shouldn’t doubt him. So, am I going to get the real story or the good old ‘you’re not an orc you wouldn’t understand’ version?”

“That’s not fair.” Dorghu had thought about a seat at the table but changed his mind, opting instead to lean next to the fridge for easy access. “I have always been open and honest and you can’t claim otherwise.”

“I wasn’t talking about you.” She took a longer, deeper sip. “That wasn’t fair. Just, please tell me what happened. Even the parts I don’t want to hear.”

He finished his second beer and stared at her, her gaze finding and holding his just as steady. “I asked too much of him.” This time he grabbed a coffee mug instead of a beer and poured himself a cup. “I went to a dark place and tried to take him with me.” He ground his teeth and swallowed as he took the chair across from her. Before he continued he took a gulp of the scalding coffee. “I almost ruined everything, everything.”

Abby didn’t respond, for a long time, just sipped her coffee and let Dorghu speak. At some point towards the end of the coffee pot Dorghu fell silent as well and Mikey was the one to break the silence when he came down the hall rubbing at his face.

**“Morning.”** When he drew his hand away from his sleepy eyes he paused in the doorway, **“Mom, what are you doing here?”**

She blinked her own, tired eyes at her son and then smiled, a little sarcastically, **“Good morning, and do you think I was going to let this go?”** She stood up and wrapped him in a long, tight hug.”Also here’s a tip; don’t leave messages on your Mom’s voicemail like that, ever gain.” She took her son’s head in her hands and pressed her forehead to his. After a deep breath she sighed, “Especially after she worked three night shifts, ‘kay?”

Mikey smiled and nodded as they pulled apart. He bumped fists with her father and grinned sheepish and very apologetic as he passed on his way to the fridge. “How long are you gon’ be here Mom?” He pulled a jug of Sunny D out of the fridge, “Does this mean I can skip school today.”

**“No.”**

“Not a chance.”

Abby and Dorghu answered at the same time. Abby added, “I have a couple days off, but I should head back.

“No, c’mon! Stay for the BBQ at least this weekend!

“Mikey, you’ll be in Santa Barbara with me in a couple weeks…” Abby looked slightly panicked and Dorghu watched her carefully.

“Yeah, but, c’mon.. Dad tell her she should stay.” Mikey looked desperately to his father.

Dorghu finished his last cup of coffee and stood up from the table, “ **Mikey...** “ He looked from his son to Abby, “You know you are welcome if you want to stay but, you don’t have to.”

Her panic doubled and her soft eyes widened before they began dart around. “I think I should get some sleep before anything else.”

“Great, so, you’ll stay here and we can talk about it when I get home!” Before either of them could shoot down his optimism Mikey slammed the fridge shut and bolted back down the hallway to his bedroom.

“I’ll get you some money for a hotel.” Dorghu stood up and fished a wad of bills from his pocket.

Abby stood up with him, “Don’t bother, I reserved something on the way down here. Just in case.” She walked to dump the remains of her coffee down the sink, “I promised I’d keep out of it, but your dirty money still sketches me out.”

Dorghu sighed so deeply it was closer to a groan, “Abby, we’ve made it all night without arguing, don’t let the way I make money ruin that.”

Abby sighed herself but nodded, already on her way to the door.

Dorghu shoved the cash back in his pocket and cracked the knuckles of his right hand. “Abby,” He followed after her, “If you can, come to the BBQ, it’s Arthur and Malia’s Anniversary. I know she’d be happy if you did, Mikey too.”

She paused, her hand on the door knob, “Tell Mikey I’ll pick him up for dinner tonight. I’ll decide by then.”

“Okay.” He stepped onto the front step and watched her walk to her car. As he stood there and watched her leave, something in and of itself that gave him chest pains, he wished desperately that he had either never tried to get that magic wand or that he had succeeded and everything could have been back to the way it should of been. Of course, life was never that easy. Not for them anyway.


End file.
